“Good evening, Sam.”
The woman smiled.
For anyone who knew her even slightly, that could be considered a friendly expression.
The corners of her lips barely moved upward on her stern face, which had always evoked a look of a predatory bird.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I didn’t expect to end up here either.”
I spread my hands.
“Penny was invited as a photographer, and she brought me along.”
“Ah, I saw her.”
Norma allowed herself a dry chuckle.
“Poor girl. How unfortunate that she ended up getting involved with Jameson.”
That pretty much exhausted the subject of my presence here, and silence settled between us for a few moments.
Still, there was something I wanted to ask the elder Osborn.
“How’s Gabriella?”
My interest had nothing to do with love, or even with wanting to make myself look good in front of Norma.
I didn’t have any feelings for the younger Osborn at all.
Sam, on the other hand, had been much more interested in her money.
I was simply curious about how the potential future Goblin was doing and when she would be returning to the city.
“She’s fine.”
Norma’s smile became slightly warmer when she mentioned her daughter.
“I know what happened was rather unexpected for both of you, but don’t blame her. It was my decision, and I had my reasons.”
I saw no point in asking what those reasons were.
If Norma hadn’t told me right away, I wasn’t going to get an answer now.
And “unexpected” was putting it mildly.
Neither Sam nor Penny had ever figured out what had happened or why Gabriella had suddenly left.
All the boy had received was a phone call full of apologies and declarations of undying love, the kind teenagers loved throwing around.
The more important question was what I should do about her.
Of course, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that she had met some Fritz or François over in Europe and already forgotten my name.
The complete lack of contact since then certainly supported that theory.
Still, I’d rather think everything through in advance and be prepared.
Maybe I should twist the old saying around and keep my friends close, but my enemies in my bed.
Who knows?
Perhaps the great power of love really could prevent a villain from being born.
“Is she coming back?” I asked.
“Of course.”
Osborn snorted.
“As if I could keep her away from you for too long.”
There was no irritation in her voice.
I had to give Mr. White credit where it was due.
The man certainly had a talent for seduction.
Getting a teenage girl, even one raised under a strict mother, to fall in love with him was one thing.
Winning over her mother, a woman with plenty of life experience and an excellent business sense, was something else entirely.
I wanted to continue the conversation, but we were interrupted.
Every trace of friendliness suddenly disappeared from Norma’s face.
She straightened her back, drew in a breath through her nose, then exhaled loudly.
Following her gaze, it wasn’t difficult to figure out what had caused the reaction.
Wilma Fisk was heading toward us.
“It was nice talking to you, Sam.”
Norma said goodbye and walked toward the unexpected guest herself.
“Likewise, Mrs. Osborn.”
I tossed the words after her.
It was unlikely they had any business dealings together, judging by Norma’s reaction.
And if they did, whatever business they shared clearly wasn’t making Osborn very happy.
I could say I was lucky that they didn’t move very far away from me.
Unfortunately, hearing anything was still difficult.
The noise in the hall drowned out their relatively quiet conversation.
Everyone here was civilized, and nobody was raising their voice, but there were plenty of people in the room.
The background noise was more than enough to make eavesdropping impossible.
I had no choice but to accept defeat.
If I moved closer, it would raise questions from both Fisk and Norma.
Annoying either of them right now wasn’t exactly in my best interest.
Especially while I was in civilian clothes.
And, of course, Gwen still hadn’t returned.
With her enhanced body, she might have been able to make out at least some of the conversation.
Penny wasn’t going to be free anytime soon either.
At the moment, she was busy photographing J.
Jonah Jameson, Anastasia Hardy, and some old woman who looked suspiciously like Jabba the Hutt.
“Interesting people you know.”
Felicia’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
Apparently, I was in high demand among important people tonight.
“Miss Hardy.”
I gave her a polite nod.
“Oh, forget that.”
She waved it away playfully.
“There’s already been far too much formality tonight. I want to relax a little. So just Felicia.”
“Felicia.”
I obediently nodded.
“So, you’re Penny’s boyfriend, right?”
Hardy narrowed her eyes with obvious curiosity.
“Penny?”
I couldn’t help chuckling.
“Didn’t you call her Pansy? But yes, I’m her boyfriend.”
“Oh, that’s just a little game between us girls. Don’t worry about it.”
Her mischievous smile would have made every Cheshire cat in existence jealous.
“So, how is she?”
“Wonderful.”
I met her smile with one of my own.
Judging by the slight pout that appeared on her lips, that wasn’t the answer she’d been expecting.
Was she trying to embarrass me?
Nice try.
That wasn’t going to work on me.
I had to admit, this girl had incredible charm and charisma.
I’d noticed it earlier when she’d been moving around the room, effortlessly drawing guests into conversations.
If I’d been a little younger, she probably could have gotten a reaction out of me.
I was curious about what had sparked her interest in us.
Penny in particular.
If I remembered correctly, they were supposed to have met when Parker brought our photographs to the Daily Bugle.
Was that what this was about?
Did she simply want to learn more about the girl who had so effortlessly gotten pictures of the new superheroes?
Well, I had no other ideas.
Either way, I didn’t think her interest would cause us any trouble.
We probably wouldn’t see each other very often after tonight.
If we ever crossed paths again at all.
“I see.”
The pout disappeared, and Hardy’s expression once again became playful, with a hint of mischief. Get faster updates on g.com.
“But tell me…”
She suddenly stopped and stepped closer.
Her chest pressed against mine.
Her gaze was incredibly inviting.
Damn, this woman.
She wasn’t even doing anything particularly outrageous, yet my pants were already getting a little tight.
Unfortunately, she didn’t get the chance to finish.
“I’m back.”
Gwen had returned without me noticing.
Ah, women and their mysteriously short trips to the ladies’ room.
The world changes, but some things never do.
Unfortunately, Fisk and Osborn had already gone their separate ways.
The latter seemed to have left the party altogether.
At least, I couldn’t spot her anywhere.
And with Felicia standing right beside me, there was no way I could ask Stacy to listen in on their conversation.
Gwen, meanwhile, was staring at Hardy with obvious displeasure.
She had certainly walked in at an interesting moment.
From the outside, it could easily have looked like we were about to kiss.
She wasn’t angry, though.
She wasn’t jealous either.
Her expression seemed to say something closer to, “Where exactly do you think you’re going without me?”
“Well, Sam, that was a very interesting conversation.”
Felicia stepped back to where she’d been standing before.
“We’ll definitely have to continue it.”
She smiled.
“But for now, I’ll return you to the safe hands of your companion.”
The girl waved goodbye and began walking toward the area where her mother was standing.
“I don’t like her.”
Gwen’s declaration was remarkably firm.
I could only burst out laughing.
Thankfully, the rest of the evening passed without incident.
Penny finished photographing all the guests together and even managed to find some time to hang out with us.
We danced.
We drank champagne, even though Parker thought it was a bad idea.
She agreed anyway.
Before long, the real reason everyone had gathered here finally began.
The charity event.
Penny suddenly had plenty of work to do, photographing every wealthy donor writing out a fat check.
Eventually, the evening came to an end, and everyone began making their way out.
We were no exception.
Felicia met us again near the exit, but aside from the now almost routine exchange of fake names with Penny, nothing happened.
Hardy’s interest was a minor problem.
She gave the impression of being a playful woman who enjoyed flirting and teasing people.
I suspected she was capable of getting involved in almost anything if she thought it would be amusing.
Osborn and Fisk, however, were a much more serious problem.
I thought I now had a fairly solid suspicion about who was responsible for all of Oscorp’s troubles.
I should also check everyone Wilma had interacted with tonight.
Of course, if any of those people were connected to organized crime, I probably wouldn’t find much about them online or in the newspapers.
Still, every little piece of information could prove useful later.
One more thread might be enough to help unravel the entire criminal empire of the Kingpin.
Sigh.
Apparently, peace was something I was only allowed to dream about.